Appropriately, decision on marijuana dispensaries involves procrastination

For all the huffing and puffing going on in La Puente regarding marijuana dispensaries, it is taking the city some time to decide if they are going to outlaw the businesses.

Debate sparked late last year when 10 stores opened before a cap was placed on marijuana dispensaries in the city.

Now four months since city officials said they wanted to ban the businesses, they have decided to wait until July before further discussion after business owners threatened litigation.

Now city officials are trying to decide if they are willing to take a hit from lawsuits if they decide to oust the dispensaries, or if they are going to pass and allow them in the city.

LA PUENTE – Nearly four months after saying they wanted to ban medical marijuana dispensaries here, the City Council decided late Tuesday to postpone a vote to push the shops out and consider its legal implications.

The council will meet behind closed doors to discuss potential lawsuits from dispensary owners on July 13 and publicly deliberate again on the ban on July 27.

“We need to know what it’ll cost us before we go down this road,” said Councilman John Solis, who proposed the delay.

Although the threat of lawsuits loomed for weeks, the council decided at the last minute to seek more time. Several owners of the city’s 10 dispensaries have threatened that any action to push them out of the city would face a stiff legal opposition.

The council’s move was approved 3-2.

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